By Roshwitha Buduri, Staff Writer
In the middle of the Spring Pep Rally, the Teacher of the Year award was announced to all attending students, declaring Ms. Shannon the recipient for this year.
Ms. Shannon compares this Teacher of the Year to the previous year she won Teacher of the Year, 2014. At that time, her name was tossed around everywhere due to the amount of activities she was involved in.
“Back in 2014, it was paper-pencil type of thing and I was involved in SGA, I was the class of 2015 sponsor. I knew who was up for it, and I knew my name was out there. This was completely unexpected.”
She says, “I was really taken by surprise, wasn’t expecting it at all. And, it’s a huge honor. In teaching, you’re judged on how you’re doing by your students’ academic performance.”
She has taught most of the math classes offered at the school. In the last three years, she was able to teach both AP Calculus AB and BC, as well as Business Calc. Before that, her classes also included Geometry Seminar. She states, “I’ve taught pretty much everything offered except for differential equations, linear algebra, and stats.”
Ms. Shannon says, “I think there are students that are passionate about math and science. There’s some that aren’t. And, unfortunately—well I shouldn’t say unfortunately—they’re required to be in math for four years, so some kids are biding their time.” Math in Howard County is required for all four years of high school, meaning students cannot replace math with another subject even after they complete required courses for graduation.
When asked about the best parts about teaching, Ms. Shannon recalls the students as a big part of her day. Students who communicate well with their peers give her a boost every day. There’s also the expression some give during her lectures.
“When I try to explain something and all of a sudden you see a kid’s face like—like they got it, like that, boosts my day.”
If a student owns up to failing a test, or forgetting their homework, she’ll understand. However, she says, “If it becomes an integrity issue, it ruins my day.”
For her, teaching is centered around the student’s experience and their attitude. She shares some advice from her years of teaching from seeing students leave and coming into her class. “A positive attitude about learning is that it is okay to be wrong, because we’re wrong more often in life than we’re right.”
A big part of Teacher of the Year is the impact that teachers leave on students. After all, seniors are the ones filing the survey application for their teacher of choice and submitting it.
For Senior Melia Williams, the process for voting wasn’t overly complicated. The survey had basics for what teacher they nominated, with one of the harder parts she found being switching tabs to spell the teacher’s name.
When asked what factor she took into consideration for voting, she chose patience. “If you have a teacher that’s like a good teacher, (that) they can teach, but they aren’t patient with you to where you can understand it in a timely process, then that doesn’t help you or them.”
Senior Brennan Wheeler looked at teacher to student interactions for her nomination.
She says, “You really, really make an effort to connect with the students and the student body and your door is always open. People know they can come to you and you’re a safe person to come to.”
“Hopefully the kids feel safe, they feel connection, that I like them,” Ms. Shannon states. After 29 years at River Hill High School, she’s been very glad to be a teacher here. “I thought I died and went to Teacher Heaven.”
To the student community at River Hill, she says, “Thank you once again to the students overall. You do what you’re supposed to do. They make me hopeful for when I’m old and [they] all need to take care of people my age.”